The following abbreviations and terms are herewith defined, at least some of which are referred to within the following description of the present disclosure.
3GPP 3rd-Generation Partnership Project
AGCH Access Grant Channel
ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit
BCCH Broadcast Control Channel
BLER Block Error Rate
BS Base Station
CC Coverage Class
CCCH Common Control Channel
CN Core Network
CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check
CS Coding Scheme
DL Downlink
DRX Discontinuous Reception
DSP Digital Signal Processor
EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution
EGPRS Enhanced General Packet Radio Service
eNB evolved Node B
ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System
E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
GERAN GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network
GMSK Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request
LTE Long-Term Evolution
MTC Machine Type Communications
MS Mobile Station
PCH Paging Channel
PDN Packet Data Network
PG Paging Group
P-TMSI Packet Temporary Mobile Station Identity
PTCCH/D Packet Timing Control Channel/Downlink
RAN Radio Access Node
RACH Random Access Channel
RLC Radio Link Control
TA Timing Advance
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
TMSI Temporary Mobile Station Identity
UE User Equipment
UL Uplink
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
In existing wireless communication networks, the communication between wireless devices and wireless access nodes in the network are typically handled by the use of different logical channels. Each logical channel has its own purpose(s) and is typically mapped onto a physical channel following a certain frame structure in time and frequency.
One type of logical channel on the downlink (DL) is one that is monitored by a multiplicity of wireless devices, and is also used for addressing a multiplicity (i.e., not necessarily all wireless devices monitoring the channel, but at least a subset) of wireless devices with a message sent by the wireless access node using a single radio block transmitted on the channel. This type of logical channel is referred to herein as a “common DL channel” and could include, for example, in Global System for Mobile (GSM), the Common Control Channel (CCCH).
In the existing wireless communication networks, the wireless access node typically uses the same transport block format (e.g., channel coding rate and error detection capability) for transmitting a message on a common DL channel irrespective of the type of wireless device or channel conditions applicable to any given wireless device. In particular, the wireless access node uses the same transport block format for each of the radio blocks used to send a message on the common DL channel, where the transport block format has a generic format that can be received by all of the wireless devices that are addressed by the message.
For example, one possible system implementation of the transport block format would be to have the wireless access node choose a channel coding rate that is sufficiently robust to ensure that all of the addressed wireless devices can correctly receive the corresponding transmitted radio block (message) with a certain minimum level of probability (i.e., regardless of the radio channel conditions experienced by any of the addressed wireless devices). In particular, to realize a sufficiently high probability of radio block (message) reception by all of the addressed wireless devices, the wireless access node may use a robust transmit block coding rate in combination with repeated transmissions of that transport radio block (message).
However, the wireless access node's configuration of the transport block format according to a worst case scenario regarding the channel conditions (for example) would typically result in a waste of radio resources. This waste of radio resources could, for example, occur when the wireless access node makes repeated transmissions (i.e., multiple repetitions) of a message on a common DL channel according to the number of repetitions that is needed by the wireless device with the worst radio channel conditions that is addressed by the message while many or all of the other wireless devices addressed by the same message may, for example, only need a single transmission. This waste of radio resources and other shortcomings are addressed in the present disclosure.